MARKETING EGGS FOR HUMAN FOOD 



441 



out are termed " leaks," and can be sold for food if consumed 

 immediately. 



Second-quality eggs are clean and sound shelled, but under- 

 sized; they may be fresh, or may be held so long that they 

 become shrunken and stale. Full-sized and clean but stale 

 eggs also rank as seconds. 



First-quality eggs are not 

 candled, being guaranteed 

 by the shipper, who is re- 

 sponsible for their quality 

 on reaching the consumer. 

 Candling is constantly prac- 

 tised for the protection 

 of the consumer and the 

 wholesale merchant, and is 

 made necessary by the lack 

 of care and consideration 

 on the part of the producer 

 (Fig. 200). 



Preservation. From the 

 fact that eggs are produced 

 most abundantly during the 

 spring when the price is con- 

 sequently low, and that pro- 

 duction decreases and selling 

 price advances during the 

 winter season, a simple but 

 satisfactory method of pre- 

 serving eggs for the home 

 table or a restricted retail 

 trade seems most desirable. 

 People have appreciated this 

 fact for many years, and at- 

 tempts have been made to preserve them. The best way is by 

 the use of water-glass, which will preserve a small number of eggs 

 for family use at slight cost. It cannot, however, be used for eggs 

 at wholesale. Eggs may be preserved for a year, and yet be suffi- 

 ciently fresh for cooking. It is often impossible to distinguish eggs 

 preserved in water-glass from eggs only six or seven days old; 

 in fact, if properly done, the preserved egg is often superior to the 

 apparently fresh one; as, for instance, when the latter has been 



Photo by Bureau of Chemistry, United States Department 

 of Agriculture. 



FIG. 200. A commercial egg candler at 

 work. The electric light is here enclosed in a 

 stovepipe with two holes in the side. Each 

 grade of eggs is placed in its own case. 



